2014/10/27

Tamashii no Rufuran

This is SU-METAL's solo tune (originally sung by Yoko TAKAHASHI in 1997,
the theme of the anime movie "Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth").

Tamashii no Rufuran (Soul's Refrain)

Return to me, tracing your memory,
back to the source of gentleness and dreams,
in order to be born again led by the star.
It's soul's refrain.

The bare skin is covered by blue shade.
It is trembling quietly in the passage of time.
As if asking where the life has gone,
your fingertips seek for me.

I've been hugging you as my destiny,
but you're just like a fleeting flower blooming in the season.
Leaving the smell of hope on my breast,
you rush to fall with your vivid shape.

Return to me. Before your birth,
you had been on this earth.
Return into my arms in order to meet them.
The miracle happens again and again.
It's soul's refrain.

When I close my eyes like praying,
the world just vanishes into the depths of darkness.
The heartbeat, however, starts to move again,
searching for the limited eternity.

Return to me, tracing your memory,
back to the source of gentleness and dreams.
You too must return in order to love each other.
Minds and bodies are repeated.
It's soul's refrain.

Return to me. Before your birth,
you had been on this earth.
Return into my arms in order to meet them.
The miracle happens again and again.
It's soul's refrain.

ROMAJI LYRIC AND NOTES ARE BELOW.

[i] About the Two Standpoints in This Song

I think the verses and the choruses (singing "return to me") are sung from different standpoints.

The anime movie was made to finish the unfinished episodes #25 & #26 (the last) of the TV anime series. In the opening theme of the TV series appeared a 14 y.o. boy (the main character "Shinji") and a 29 y.o. woman (his boss "Misato"), and the theme song said "Someday you'll fly away out of my window." (by the same singer & the same lyric writer). Probably the verses of this song are also sung from such a standpoint as Misato's.

And, as you see, "return to me" is sung from the standpoint of the mother who bore. Or rather, she is probably the personification of the true & eternal world where our souls originally belonged to. There are many views about where our souls come from. The anime story relates to such views.

I can't find any official comments about this. There may be only one woman. But I think it's strange if the arms where he must return are the same as the arms that have hugged him. I think the former are in the ideal world and the latter are in the real world.

Tamashii no Rufuran (Soul's Refrain *1)

Romaji Lyric

English Translation

Notes

Watashi ni kaeri nasai, kioku o tadori,

Return to me, tracing your memory,

yasashisa to yume no minamoto e,

back to the source of gentleness and dreams,

mo ichido hoshi ni hikare umareru tame ni.

in order to be born again led by the stars.

2

Tamashii no rufuran.

It's soul's refrain.

Aoi kage ni tsutsumareta suhada ga

The bare skin is covered by blue shade.

toki no naka de shizuka ni furueteru.

It is trembling quietly in the passage of time.

Inochi no yukue o toikakeru yooni

As if asking where the life has gone,

yubisaki wa watashi o motomeru.

your fingertips seek for me.

Dakishimeteta unmei no anata wa

I've been hugging you as my destiny,

kisetsu ni saku marude hakanai hana.

but you're just like
a fleeting flower blooming in the season.

Kiboo no nioi o mune ni nokoshite

Leaving the smell of hope on my breast,

chiri isogu, azayaka na sugata de.

you rush to fall with your vivid shape.

3

Watashi ni kaeri nasai, umareru mae ni

Return to me. Before your birth,

4

anata ga sugoshita daichi e to.

you had been on this earth.

Kono te ni kaeri nasai, meguriau tame.

Return into my arms in order to meet them.

5,6

Kiseki wa okoru yo, nando demo.

The miracle happens again and again.

Tamashii no rufuran.

It's soul's refrain.

Inoru yooni mabuta tojita toki ni

When I close my eyes like praying,

7

sekai wa tada yami no soko ni kieru.

the world just vanishes into the depths of darkness.

Soredemo kodoo wa mata ugoki-dasu,

The heartbeat, however, starts to move again,

8

kagiri aru eien o sagashite.

searching for the limited eternity.

Watashi ni kaeri nasai, kioku o tadori,

Return to me, tracing your memory,

yasashisa to yume no minamoto e.

back to the source of gentleness and dreams.

Anata mo kaeri nasai, aishi-au tame.

You too must return in order to love each other.

9

Kokoro mo karada mo kurikaesu.

Minds and bodies are repeated.

10

Tamashii no rufuran.

It's soul's refrain.

Watashi ni kaeri nasai, umareru mae ni

Return to me. Before your birth,

anata ga sugoshita daichi e to.

you had been on this earth.

Kono te ni kaeri nasai, meguriau tame.

Return into my arms in order to meet them.

Kiseki wa okoru yo, nando demo.

The miracle happens again and again.

Tamashii no rufuran.

It's soul's refrain.

Notes

"Rufuran" comes from French pronunciation of "refrain".

"Hikare" (= hiku) usually means "to draw/pull", but it's strange that a star pulls a baby. I guess it's a substitute for "michibiku" (= lead/guide), which comes from "michi" + "hiku" = "draw [along] the way".

"Chiri isogu" is "chiru" + "isogu" (= rush to scatter (oneself)). "Chiru" sometimes means "to die bravely" (such as in battle field) by the association with flowers. Probably "chiri isogu" is nearer to "iki isogu" (= rush to live; a short and intensive life) than to "shini isogu" (= rush to die) that has a nuance of disregarding one's own life.

Combining two lines and ignoring the word order, it says "Return to me, back to the earth where you had lived before you were born".

Usually "te" (手) refers to a hand and "ude" (腕) refers to an arm, but "te" sometimes refers to whole arm and hand. It is written as "腕(て)" in the official lyric.

"Meguriau" is "meguru" + "au" (= to go/travel around and (finally) meet). It is used for a soul mate, a long-lost mother, etc.

Actually there's no hint as to who closes the eyes, so it might be not "I" but "you" or inclusive "we".

"Ugoki-dasu" is "ugoku" + "dasu" (= start to move). As well as "move", "ugoku" means primarily a spatial movement and sometimes an operation of such as machine. It's natural to think it means "the heartbeat starts to beat again", but I can't reject the possibility that "the heartbeat" represents a person and the verb means a spatial movement.

This Japanese sentence is the imperative with "anata mo" (= you (single) too).

"Kokoro" usually means whole mental activities contrasted with a physical body. "Tamashii" (= soul) usually means an immortal entity contrasted with a mortal body. In some views, some part of mind is thought to be mortal. I am not sure whether this "kokoro" means a mortal part of mind or it is just used as synonym of "tamashii".